Leonard leads Aztecs to MWC title, NCAA berth

Justin Hawkins of UNLV pressures Billy White of San Diego State during the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center March 13, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

Justin Hawkins of UNLV pressures Billy White of San Diego State during the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center March 13, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

Malcolm Thomas of San Diego State blocks a shot by Darris Santee of UNLV during the championship game of the Conoco Mountain West Conference Basketball tournament March 13, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

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Malcolm Thomas of San Diego State blocks a shot by Darris Santee of UNLV during the championship game of the Conoco Mountain West Conference Basketball tournament March 13, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS — This time, there will be no guessing, hoping or excessive sweating. Perhaps more important, there will be no snubbing.

Save the tea leaves and tarot cards. The Aztecs are in.

The San Diego State Aztecs defeated UNLV 55-45 at the Thomas & Mack Center Saturday night in the Mountain West Conference Tournament championship, earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament and putting an end to all bubble-based questions.

“Had we not been successful (Saturday) and not been picked (Sunday), we’d have gotten on a plane and gone someplace and say ‘we’re going to play somebody because we deserved to be in (after beating New Mexico in the semis),’ ” Aztecs coach Steve Fisher said. “Now we know we’re in … we’re where we belong. I thought we were going to get in (after New Mexico). But now I know we’re in.”

The Aztecs (25-8) will learn their postseason destination Sunday afternoon.

“I can finally take a deep breath,” D.J. Gay said. “This is something I’ve been waiting for the last two years, something growing up as a little kid I always wanted to play (in), and now have the opportunity to do so. So it feels great.”

Locked in a low-scoring (and low shooting percentage) battle on the Rebels’ home court, the Aztecs went on a 16-5 run in the final 7:46 and Kawhi Leonard made eight straight free throws down the stretch to secure the Aztecs’ third MWC Tournament championship. It’s SDSU’s fifth victory over UNLV (25-8) in its past six meetings.

Leonard, who was named the tournament MVP, ripped down a career-high 21 rebounds to go with a game-high 16 points.

“Every ball that comes off the board is his and he goes and gets it,” Fisher said of Leonard. “(He) plays unafraid and was sensational from the moment he walked on campus. That’s what he expected and that’s what we expected.”

Following a pair of emotional semifinals victories — SDSU over New Mexico and UNLV over BYU — neither team looked particularly crisp throughout the title game. The Aztecs missed their first seven shots while the Rebels missed their first five from the field.

The fourth-seeded Aztecs eventually got on track, building a 25-22 lead at the break. Malcolm Thomas scored seven first-half points to lead the Aztecs, who shot 35.7 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.

That was almost 4 percent better than third-seeded UNLV (32 percent) which had its own offensive struggles. UNLV standout Tre’Von Willis didn’t score until a free throw with 2:37 left in the first half. He finished with 11 points.

“Both teams were fighting,” said Billy White, who along with Leonard was named to the all-tournament team. “We couldn’t buy a basket, they couldn’t buy a basket. We were just fighting. It was a fight all through the game. Finally we started making shots and they started making shots. It came down to who wanted it more. Our team just stepped up. We just wanted to win.”

SDSU finished shooting 39.1 percent from the field while UNLV shot just 32.7 percent. And what UNLV missed, Leonard was there to get, snagging 14 defensive rebounds and seven on offense. His 21 boards were a Mountain West Conference Tournament record (originally held by Marcus Slaughter, who had 19 against Colorado State in 2006). It was also more than the rest of the Aztecs team combined (16).

“You just got to be fearless and just have heart and just crash, just crash every board that goes up, try to hit a body,” Leonard said.

Added White: “He’s a warrior down there. Really no way you can keep him off the boards. That’s what he likes to do. He helps us a lot … sometimes I think it’s impossible to make a rebound. He’s just there.”

SDSU’s guaranteed spot in the NCAA Tournament comes with a bit of redemption. Last year, the Aztecs thought they were in after reaching the MWC Tournament finals, but instead were “the first team out” and ended up advancing to the NIT’s Final Four.

“Last year, you know, everything that could happen on the negative side did with the upsets and this and that,” Fisher said. “This year, as it was coming down, good things happened for us as we were looking at ourselves as a bubble team.”